PARTING ^yORD 



BY 



]\TEWMA1T H^LI.. 



^ 



(L: 



# LIBRARY OF CO.\GRESS. I 







O/icf/t. 







JU.MTED STATES OF AMKlirCi\.| 



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#1 



^ 



PARTING WORD. 



BY 



NEWMAN HALL, LL.B. 



7 



^ New York: 

SHELDON AND COMPANY, 

498 & 500 Broadway. 
1868. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by 

SHELDON AND COMPANY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York. 



STEREOTYPED AT THE 
OSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY, 

19 Spring Lane. 



INTRODUCTION. 



To those whom I have had the privilege of ad- 
dressing in America on the great Truths of 
the Gospel^ but who have not decided to yield 
their hearts at once to the Savior. 

Dear Friends : I am leaving your coun- 
try, where I have had great enjoyment in 
beholding objects of interest, examining your 
social institutions, and receiving the hospitality 
\ of friends who have vied with each other in 
showing kindness to a stranger, regarded and 
welcomed as a representative, however un- 
worthy, of the people of the Old Country. But 
the greatest pleasure of all has been the oppor- 
tunity of preaching in many places, and to 

(3) 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

large congregations, the Gospel of Salvation. 
How will that pleasure be augmented should 
words of mine, spoken in weakness, become, 
by Divine Grace, means of spiritual good to 
any who have listened to my voice ! I pray 
that God may bless my simple words to the 
comforting and strengthening of His children. 
I also, and still more earnestly, pray that 
He may use those words to bring back many 
who have wandered from Himself, and thus 
from happiness and safety. 

Dear Friends, you have perhaps been inter- 
ested and impressed by what has fallen from 
the preacher's lips. While you have listened, 
you perhaps intended to begin a new life by 
seeking Christ. But you have not yet begun 
to do this in earnest. You are putting off the 
day of salvation. Every hour of delay in- 
creases the difficulty, and lessens . the proba- 
bility of your salvation. Let me entreat you 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

to repent and believe To-day. And that you 
may be persuaded to decide for Christ at once, 
let me ask you to consider my last word to you, 
ere I leave your hospitable shores. That last 
w^ord is, " Now ! " 



I am your sincere friend. 



Newman Hall. 



Boston, Dec. 3, 1867. 



A PARTI]\Ta WORD. 



NOW ! A short word ; a shorter thing. 
Soon uttered; sooner gone. 
Now ! A grain of sand on a boundless 
plain. A tiny ripple on a measureless ocean ! 
Over that ocean we are sailing ; but the only 
part of it we possess is that on which our 
vessel at this moment floats. From the stern 
we look backwards and watch the ship's wake 
in the waters ; but how short a distance it 
reaches, and how soon every trace disappears ! 
We see also some landmarks farther off, and 
then the horizon closes the view ; but beyond, 
that ocean still rolls far, far away. Memory 
contemplates the few years of our individual 
life ; history shows us a dim outline of moun- 

(7) 



8 A PARTING WORD. 

tains ; science tells us that still farther back, 
out of sight, stretches that vast sea ; reason 
assures us that, like space, it hath no boun- 
dary : but all that we possess of it is repre- 
sented by this small word — Now ! The past, 
for action, is ours no longer. The future may 
never become present, and is not ours until it 
does. The only part of time we can use is 
this very moment — Now! 

But multitudes waste what they actually 
possess in vain regrets for what they once 
had, or vain intentions respecting what is not 
yet theirs. "Alas ! " says one, "I have thrown 
away the choicest opportunities, and the best 
part of my life is lost ! O, if those years 
might return, how differently would I now 
act ! " Those years cannot return. But you 
have the present moment ! Why add what 
you can improve to the heap of lost opportuni- 
ties which are now far beyond your reach? 

A passenger comes bustling into the railway 
depot. He is just too late, for the- engine has 
sounded its whistle, and the cars are gliding 



I 



A PARTING WORD. 9 

rapidly out of sight. He looks after them in 
despair. He had important business to trans- 
act. Ruinous may be the consequences of 
delay. He sits down on his trunk, leaning 
his head upon his hand, and, absorbed in vain 
regrets, gazes vacantly forward. But see ! 
another train is at the platform, just about to 
start for the same destination. Other passen- 
gers have arrived, and are eagerly crowding 
in. The bell rings. Again the whistle 
sounds ; again the engine bears away its liv- 
ing freight; and starting up, our friend again 
bewails an opportunity lost ! O, sit not down 
again despondingly ! There is yet another 
chance. Throw not this away, too, but at once 
take your seat in this third train which now is 
preparing to follow the other two. 

But should we never look regretfully after 
the past? Certainly ; but for this purpose, that 
we may be stirred up to improve the present. 
Let us think of past sins that we may repent 
now. Let us meditate on former failures, that 
we may watch and pray against similar dan- 



lO A PARTING WORD. 

gers now. But let us not be so foolish as to 
lose what yet remains, while poring over what 
is gone forever. Rouse thee, self-reproaching, 
desponding sinner ! Thy guilt has been great, 
but thou canst not lessen it by merely regretting 
it. Bring it now to Christ, that He may pardon 
it ! You cannot atone for the past, but you may 
improve the present. Often in by-gone years 
you might have sought God in an " accepted 
time," and have rejoiced in a "day of salva- 
tion." Great is your guilt and great your folly 
in having lost such opportunities. Yes, think 
of this, and be ashamed. Think of this and 
mourn. But so think of it as not to add to that 
guilt and folly. So think of it as to act at 
once on the divine word, "Behold, JVow is 
the accepted time ; behold, JVow is the day of 
salvation." 

There are indolent anticipations, as well as 
indplent regrets. We waste the time we pos- 
sess if we spend it only in making plans for 
action in time to come. If a private soldier 
were to be continually resolving what he would 



A PARTING WORD. II 

do when he became a sergeant, but meanwhile 
were to perform none of the private's duties, it 
is plain that his promotion would never take 
place. Neglect of the actual present would 
disqualify him for the imagined future. So if, 
while busy with framing good resolutions for 
to-morrow, we disregard the duties of to-day, 
we not only waste the present, but thereby un- 
fit ourselves for that very future when it comes. 
Look, by all means, towards the future; but, 
as with the past, let such looking prompt you 
to improve the present. Look forward to the 
day of judgment, not to become the victim of a 
hopeless terror, but diligently to prepare for 
that judgment now! Think of the hour of 
death, not to settle down into inactive melan- 
choly, but to discharge the duties of life now ! 
Let your good intentions for to-morrow prompt 
you to prepare for executing them by diligence 
to-day ! 

But, alas ! the very opposite is too often the 
practice of mankind. They look to the possi- 
bilities of the future, in order to avoid the duties 



12 A PARTING WORD. 

of the present. To resolve is much easier than 
to work. A purpose of amendment hereafter 
encourages evil indulgence now. Conscience 
remonstrating, is gagged by plausible promises. 
If "yesterday" has slain its thousands, "to- 
morrow" has slain its ten thousands. There is 
not a more subtle and powerful antagonist to 
the Gospel than procrastination. Infidelity, 
with its bold arguments, cunning hints, or cov- 
ert sarcasm, is comparatively feeble; there is 
a still small voice within the breast, which ever 
gives the lie to scepticism. Worldliness may 
display its gilded bawbles to captivate the eye, 
but the heart pronounces them insufficient to 
satisfy its cravings. Sin may mingle the honey 
of pleasure with its poison, but cannot alto- 
gether disguise the bitter ; and he who drinks 
knows there is death in the cup. But "To- 
morrow," assenting to, confirming, enforcing 
the claims of duty, yet suggesting delay — ah, 
of all the agents of the devil, there is not a 
subtler antagonist of truth, a deadlier foe of 
man, than To-morrow ! 



A PARTING WORD. I3 

Most persons shrink from a gross and glar- 
ing inconsistency between their creed and their 
conduct. Very few could be found who admit 
religion to be true, but resolve never to attend 
to it. To say, " There is a judgment day, but 
I will never prepare for it; a hell, but I will 
never try to escape from it ; a God, but I will 
never worship Him ; a Savior, but I will never 
seek Him ; " this is too gross for any but the 
most abandoned. The devil does not tempt us 
to make such a resolve. By so shocking our 
reason, he would defeat his own purpose. But 
he sends his emissary, " To-morrow," by whose 
artful persuasion multitudes are induced to say 
"I acknowledge the truth of religion, and have 
resolved to yield to its claims. I intend to re- 
pent of my sins, and seek pardon through 
Christ. I will certainly give up my wicked 
practices, and, by God's help, live a better, 
holier life. Thus I am determined to flee from 
the wrath to come, and obtain the salvation 
offered me in the Gospel. All this I am re- 
solved to do — To-morrow ! " 



14 A PARTING WORD. 

To-morrow ! Eloquent advocate ! robed as 
a king's counsel, holding the devil's brief! 
The sermon's swift antidote, the preacher's 
most formidable respondent, never at a loss for 
a reply. To-morrow! Skilful fencer, ward- 
ing off so dexterously the best-aimed blows. 
To-morrow ! Prompt physician, dulling the 
sense of pain by sweet but deadly narcotics ; 
quieting the pangs of conscience, and closing 
up so comfortably the wounds of the sword of 
truth. To-morrow! Accomplished musician, 
soothing the soul to slumber by endless vari- 
ations on a single string. Delusive phan- 
tom, ever beckoning the traveller onward, 
downward, to the precipice's very brink. Cour- 
teous traitor, smiling assassin, Satan's chief 
recruiting sergeant, paving with good intentions 
the road to hell ! 

"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow! 
vCreeps in this petty pace from day to day. 
To the last syllable of recorded time ; 
And all om* yesterdays have lighted fools 
The way to dusty death ! " 



A PARTING WORD. 1 5 

O, then, instead of indolently gazing after 
yesterday, and delusively looking forward to- 
wards to-morrow, give heed to the voice from 
heaven, which urges you to seek salvation 
NOW ! 

THE CASE STATED. 

In common with all mankind, you have 
" sinned, and come short of the glory of God." 

\ ' You are in danger of eternal death. " The 
soul that sinneth it shall die. The wicked 
shall be turned into hell." Moreover, you are 
already by sin, in a ruined state, unfit for the 

I high duties and pure enjoyments for which you 
were originally designed. " They that are in 
the flesh cannot please God. The wrath of 
God abideth on them. There is no peace, 
saith my God, to the wicked." 

But " God so loved the world, that He gave 
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believ- 
eth in Him should not perish, but have everlast- 
ing life." He invites you to put your trust in 
this Savior, to repent, to seek forgiveness, to 



\ 



1 6 A PARTING WORD. 

change your mind and amend your conduct, 
to love God and keep his commandments. To 
help you, He promises to give you his Holy 
Spirit, for whose assistance he bids you ear- 
nestly pray. He thus urges you to seek salva- 
tion. This is his gift, but you must make an 
effort to obtain it. You can never deserve it, 
but if you seek you shall find. If you are ever 
saved, it must be by grace, or undeserved 
favor ; yet it never will be without exertion on 
your own part also. "Strive to enter in at the 
strait gate." 

God calls on you to make this eflFort at once. 
The Holy Ghost says, " To-day, if ye will hear 
his voice, harden not your heart. Seek the 
Lord while He may be found, call ye upon 
Him while He is near. Whatsoever thy hand 
findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there 
is no work, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, nor 
device in the grave whither thou goest. Be- 
hold, now is the accepted time ! behold, now is 
the day of salvation." But you prefer to post- 
pone the work. Convinced of the truth and 



I 



A PARTING WORD. ' 1 7 

importance of religion, you sincerely intend to 
repent, but not at present. You wait for a 
more convenient season. 

With affectionate earnestness, and prayer 
that the Divine Spirit may give them power, 
the following arguments are submitted to your 
careful consideration, for the purpose of per- 
suading you not to wait a single day, but to 
" repent and believe the Gospel " NOW ! 



I. 



THE PRESENT IS THE ONLY PORTION OF TIME 
YOU ARE SURE OF POSSESSING ; THERE- 
FORE REPENT NOW ! 

All putting off till to-morrow, implies an 
expectation of possessing to-morrow. As even 
a slight degree of uncertainty is of great im- 
portance when momentous interests are at 
stake, suffer the question to be urged — on 
what grounds you expect that the future, to 
which you postpone repentance, will ever be- 

2 



1 8 A PARTING WORD. 

come yours? You perhaps reply, that from 
your age at present, you can, by a table of 
averages, calculate how many years are still in 
store. Life assurances and annuities are thus 
determined with an accuracy which secures a 
more certain return than most commercial trans- 
actions. But this certainty has relation to an 
aggregate number of lives, and not to any one 
in particular. Similarity in respect to the 
duration of life in a nation, is connected with 
the utmost possible diversity in respect to the 
individuals composing that nation. It is the 
very uncertainty existing in each person's own 
case, which prompts him to "insure his life." 
Uniformity in the operation of natural laws 
as regards a community, renders such insur- 
ance possible : uncertainty as regards the 
individual renders such insurance desirable. 
Your own argument, then, confutes itself; 
for the years you say you may expect to 
live, are only the average certainty resulting 
from the individual uncertainty ; an uncer- 
tainty so great, so baffling all efforts to re- 



A PARTING WORD. I9 

move it, as to call into existence those very 
calculations on which you falsely ground your 
personal expectations of to-morrow. 

As if to render it impossible for any one to 
presume on the future, Death comes in various 
forms, and carries away his victims from all 
the stages of life. Multitudes, roughly weaned, 
are snatched from their mother's breast. Many 
a flower is " no sooner blown than blasted ; " 
many a one is allowed to grow to full maturity, 
and then is cut down in all its glory, before 
one sign of decay appears. Some persons 

» linger on the brink of the grave for half a 
century; while others, buoyant with health, 
and eager for labor, are suddenly arrested in 
their morning race. Some, year by year, on 

I beds of pain, sigh vainly for release ; while 
thousands of the strong and the active, confi- 
dent of long life, rush past them into an am- 
bushed and unsuspected grave. " Boast not 
thyself of to-morrow ; for thou knowest not 
what a day may bring forth ! " 

As the work to be done is of immense diffi- 



20 



A PARTING WORD. 



culty, it surely should not be deferred to a 
season so uncertain. You perish eternally if 
it is neglected, and yet you delay until to- 
morrow, though you have not the slightest 
assurance that for you to-morrow will ever 
dawn ! You are urged by the God of Salva- 
tion to secure the blessing now. This ^^ now " 
is actually yours. Yet you deliberately, re- 
peatedly, habitually, put off what is now with- 
in reach, to a period when it may forever be 
beyond your grasp. 

A mine is about to be exploded. Warning 
is given. The slow match is lighted. At 
any moment the spark may reach the powder, 
and then, as with an earthquake's shock, the 
ground will be rent, and those fair buildings 
above be shattered into ruinous heaps. Death 
must overtake any one lingering there. What 
would be said of the man who, urged to escape, 
and knowing the peril, still loitered about, 
presuming on the next moment, instead of 
improving the present? A ship, sailing on the 
broad Atlantic, springs a leak. Every effort is 



A PARTING WORD. 21 

made to remedy the injury. In vain ! The 
water gains upon the pumps. The truth must 
be told. The passengers, unconscious of 
danger, are amusing themselves on deck or in 
the cabin. But now the captain informs them 
of their peril. The ship is rapidly settling — 
she may keep afloat a little longer, but she 
may sink at any moment : they must, therefore, 
by boats, rafts, or life-buoys, provide as best 
they can for their personal safety. If you were 
one of them, would you say, "I must finish this 
game — or complete this piece of work — or 
read to the end of this book — and then I will 
see what can be done : the vessel may keep 
afloat some hours longer, and I will adopt 
measures of self-preservation by and by?" If 
the very supposition of such a case seems out- 
rageous, what is to be said of those who are 
actually doing what is far more foolish, — 
delaying repentance, and risking their ever- 
lasting salvation? 

St. Peter tells us that " the day of the Lord 
will come as a thief in the night." And Christ 



22 A PARTING WORD. 

himself says, "Therefore be ye also ready, for 
in such an hour as ye think not^ the Son of 
Man Cometh." When you " think not " — when ] 
you fancy you are secure — when you are cal- 
culating on many to-morrows, then He may be J 
at hand ! To those who put off religion, the 
present, this very now^ is such an hour as they 
think the Son of Man will not come. It is 
therefore just such an hour in which, as He 
himself tells us. He "tnay come! 

Perhaps you reply, "But, after all, I may 
have a to-morrow ; and therefore, though I 
put off religion to-day^ I 'tnay still repent and . 
be saved." Yes. But this " #2^j/ " involves a 
^"^ may not,'''' "^h.^, -probability of your seeking 
God in time, involves an opposite probability 
that you may be too late. You may die before 
you obtain mercy. You may^ notwithstanding 
all your good intentions, be lost forever ! Can 
you delay securing yourself against so fearful 
a risk, when security is offered to yoxxnow ? 

Learn from your own conduct in'other things. 
If you possess ordinary prudence, you insure 



A PARTING WORD. , 23 



L~. 

expect they will be burned? No. Compara- 
tively few persons actually suffer in this way. 
You hope such a calamity may never come to 
I you. But it is -possible. And the evil is so 
verj^ great when it does come, that the mere 
chance of it is a sufficient reason for insuring 
against the damage which you would suffer. 
j Now consider whether death to a man who is 
unprepared for it, is not infinitely worse than 
the loss of all his property? "What shall it 
' profit a man if he gain the whole world and 
I ♦lose his own soul?" But death to the impeni- 
I tent, is the loss of the soul. And death is not 
a chance, but a certainty. You do not expect 
your house to be burned down. You do expect 
to die. 

Suppose you were certain that your property 
would be destroyed some time within sixty or 
seventy years, and possibly this very night, 
would you -not insure at once? But this is 
exactly the case with your soul ! You know 
that on some day, within a limited period, you 



24 A PARTING WORD. 

must die. And if you die uninsured, that is, 
without repentance towards God and faith in 
our Lord Jesus Christ, you perish eternally ! 
Should not the bare possibility of this taking 
place before to-morrow urge you to repent and 
believe now? You may be on the brink of 
everlasting ruin, andean you trifle? The fire 
Tnay break out before the insurance is effected ! 
The mine may explode before you have left it ! 
The ship may sink before you are in the life- 
boat ! You may die, while still postponing 
repentance, and therefore when unprepared ! 
You may meet the Judge as your enemy ! You 
m.ay be " driven away in your wickedness," you 
may " be turned into hell, with all the nations 
that forget God ! " Can you, with so fearful a 
possibility hanging over you, remain one hour 
at ease? 

When Lot was urged to flee from Sodom, 
'^ he lingered." He was loath to leave his house, 
his property, his friends. He thought the dan- 
ger was not imminent. He might wait at least 
another hour or two. There were no signs of 



A PARTING WORD. 25 

peril. All things continued as they had been. 
The city looked, in the early twilight, as stately 
and secure as ever. Why such haste to leave 
it? But the tempest of wrath was about to 
overwhelm it. So the angels laid hold of his 
hand and hurried him away,. saying, "Escape 
for thy life ; look not behind thee, neither stay 
thou in all the plain ; escape to the mountain, 
lest thou be consumed ! " Even so, reader, this 
little book would take thee by the hand, and 
urge thee, without another moment's delay, to 
" flee from the wrath to come." The to-morrow 
you trust in may never be yours. The only 
instant of time you are sure of is the present. 
Therefore repent NOW! 



26 A PARTING WORD. 



11. 



THE PRESENT IS THE ONLY PORTION OF TIME 
IN WHICH IT IS POSSIBLE TO ACT. THERE- 
FORE REPENT NOW. 

You try to* persuade yourself that while 
resolving for to-morrow, you are really doing 
something towards the duty of to-day. You 
are mistaken. To-morrow, as you have been 
reminded, may never be yours. And if so, 
where is your boasted work? Your purpose, 
defeated by death, ends in nothing. What you 
only intend to do, will be as much left undone 
as if you never formed such an intention. But 
let it be granted that you will certainly be 
spared until that future day to which you post- 
pone repentance. Do you not see that you 
cannot really act in any future period of life 
until it becomes a Now? In order to act, we 
must exist. But we exist only in the present. 
Therefore we can work only in the present. 
Intending to do is no more doing, than remem- 



i 



A PARTING WORD. 27 

bering what is already done. We can work in 
no moment of time than that which is a Now ; 
and if all we do in this life is resolving to do, 
we really do nothing. 

"But," say you, "though purposes are not 
performances, are good intentions altogether 
worthless? As actions spring from thoughts, 
may not the intention to act be the most im- 
portant part of the act itself ? " This is true in 
some cases, but not in the one we are con- 
sidering. To repent and turn to God is our 
duty every day. If, then, I, to-day, resolve to 
begin to repent to-morrow, I am actually re- 
fusing present obligations. But as actions 
speak louder than intentions, the positive rejec- 
tion of present duty is a more real thing than 
the mere purpose to perform what is future. 
That purpose then is worthless. It is a case, 
not of two witnesses equally trustworthy, who 
contradict each other ; but of evidence so over- 
powering on one side, that the opposite testi- 
mony is thrown aside as utterly valueless. 

I therefore deceive myself if I fancy I am 



28 A PARTING WORD. 

nearer to heaven because I mtend to set out on 
the journey at some future time. If death over- 
takes me while only postponing, I am cut off 
without having even begun the work, and the 
best intentions for the future avail me nothing ! 
Every day, the very last day of life, will have 
been a day of positive impenitence, and the 
mere purpose of amendment will not alter the 
fact of actual, habitual wickedness, persevered 
in till the end. If, then, I should even be 
spared to see the day to which I presumptuous- 
ly postpone repentance, I am as much, as in the 
case just supposed, doing nothing now. The 
procrastination of religion is not religion itself. 
While only resolving to seek salvation to- 
morrow, I am destitute of salvation to-day. 
While putting off obedience till to-morrow, I 
am not practising obedience to-day. O, 
reader ! you may please yourself by the no- 
tion that you are acting when you are only 
resolving, but "Be not deceived, God is not 
mocked ; whatsoever a man soweth that shall 
he also reap." At present you are sowing the 



A PARTING WORD. 29 

solid seed of actual impenitencej mixed with 
the chaff, light as wind, of good intentions. 
Rely not on this admixture, lest you verify the 
threatening which speaks of sowing the vjind^ 
to rea^ the vjhirlwind ! 



III. 



YOUR GOOD INTENTION MAY NOT LAST TILL, 
TO-MORROW : THEREFORE ACT ON IT 

NOW ! 

Are you not conscious of having cherished 
many sincere purposes, which never resulted in 
performances? All our thoughts and emo- 
tions, when unaccompanied by corresponding 
practice, become less vivid as they become 
more familiar. Compassion for the needy will 
diminish in proportion as we witness distress 
without relieving it. Every time conscience 
speaks to us in vain, causes her voice to be 
heard more faintly when she next urges us to 
our duty. While by repetition, habits of action 
become stronger, unheeded impulses to action 



30 A PARTING WORD. 

become feebler. In the absence of these habits, 
the impulses grow weaker without any cor- 
rective. Thus in the lapse of time, the most 
sincere intentions, where the performance is 
delayed, become impotent and worthless. Be- 
sides, other subjects engage our attention. The 
importance of what we had purposed is less 
vividly before the mind, while the difficulties 
become more distinct as the time of perform- 
ance approaches. Thus the best intentions 
die out by insensible degrees, as a fire which 
blazed up with paper, wood, and turpentine 
when first kindled, but which afterwards, 
neither stirred nor fed, gradually becomes 
extinguished. 

But the purpose itself is not sufficient, even 
should it be permanent. It must change its 
character in order to become a practical im- 
pulse. The will to perform an act at the pres- 
ent moment, is a very different state of mind 
from the intention to do it hereafter. A man 
addicted to indulge too much in sleep is 
awakened and summoned to his work. He 



A PARTING WORD. 3 1 

thinks of the claims of duty — he reflects on 
the evils of his indolent habit — he resolves to 
rise earlier — but he v^ill not begin till to- 
morrow. So he composes himself to sleep 
again, but fully determines that next morning 
he will rise at the proper hour. But when 
the next morning comes, does he find that the 
good purpose he had warmed under the pillow 
of self-indulgence, is the very same power 
which is needed to throw away that pillow — 
to conquer that self-indulgence? Is it strong 
enough to destroy the very cradle in which it 
was nursed? Is not a much greater effort 
needed than that which resulted in a postponed 
intention? If he feels nothing more than he 
did yesterday, he will again resolve to rise 
early the next morning, and so on from day 
to day, with this difference only, that each 
resolution is weaker than the one before. 

The intention to do our duty at a future time 
is then essentially different from the will to do 
it now. It may riot last even as a purpose, 
until the time allotted. But if it does, its 



32 A PARTING WORD. 

nature must be changed before it becomes the 
cause of action. Again you are admonished 
not to deceive yourself with good intentions. 
Imagine not that to postpone repentance, is 
any security for the practice of repentance. 
To put off a present duty is a poor ground for 
expecting to perform it at some other time. 
God commands you to repent NOW. Your j 
own interest makes it infinitely important that J 
you should repent NOW. If you refuse to 
repent, do so in plain terms, and let your eyes 
be open to your peril. But do not deceive 
yourself by the notion that resolving to repent 
to-morrow is any security for such repentance 
taking place. The very fact of your promising 
to repent hereafter, shows that you have some 
conviction of the claims of religion now^ that 
you are in some measure inclined to consider 
those claims now. How do you know that 
you will feel to-morrow, as much even as you 
feel to-day? Instead of actually repenting to- 
morrow, as you promise you will, may you not 
cease to experience those convictions which 



A PARTING WORD. 33 

you do actually feel now ? May you not be in 
a positively worse state, instead of a better? 
This we shall proceed to show will most proba- 
bly be the case. 

IV. 

BECAUSE THE DIFFICULTY INCREASES BY DE- 
LAY, REPENT NOW. 

"As Paul reasoned of righteousness, temper- 
ance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled." 
He trembled^ but did he turn ? 1^^ feared^ but 
did he jlee ? He was convinced^ but was he 
converted? He intended to be. He would 
wait a while. At present it would be very 
inconvenient to alter his course of life. He 
could not now give his mind to subjects so 
serious. But a more suitable time would come, 
and then, when he had more time and leisure 
for such thoughts, and the difficulties in the 
way of amendment would be fewer, then he 
would again seek the advice of his eloquent 
captive. Therefore he said, " Go thy way for 

3 



34 A PARTING WORD. 

this time : when I have a convenient season, I 
will call for thee." 

This is more or less the expectation of all i| 
procrastinators. They not only make sure of j 
another " season," but of one more " convenient" - 
than the present. For if the work must be I 
done at some time or other, it is obviously un- 
wise in them to put it off, unless by so doing ' 
some advantage will be gained. They expect 
that on some future day they will be more 
deeply impressed with the importance of re- 
ligion ; that they will be wiser, stronger, more 
earnest, and thus better able to repent ; or that 
the difficulty will diminish, and that with' even 
inferior strength they will more easily accom- 
plish the task. They say with Felix, " Go thy | 
way for this time, I do not wish to dismiss 
thee altogether. Far from it. I would have 
thee within call, waiting to be summoned at 
any moment. And when I have a convenient 
season I will send for theeJ^ 

Consider the two most general cases of delay, 
— the one on the plea of health, the other on 



A 



A PARTING WORD. 35 

that of age. In the midst of the enjoyments 
of Hfe many say, " I will wait until some illness 
separates me from these temptations. Then, 
in the quietness and leisure of the sick-cham- 
ber, I will turn my thoughts to God." But 
death often approaches stealthily, without any 
premonitory signs, and summons its victims 
away too suddenly for the execution of such a 
purpose. And if not, do the circumstances of 
sickness always render it a " convenient sea- 
son"? Often the pain is so severe as to par- 
alyze the mental powers. The sufferer has no 
capacity for anything beyond the endurance 
of his misery. The mind itself sympathizes 
with 'the body. The brain, its instrument, 
often becomes enfeebled. A dull indifference 
to all thinp^s is often confounded with resio^na- 
tion. Many are thought to be quite willing to 
give up the world, and are said to die like 
lambs, whose supposed peace is merely the 
apathy of disease. When the mind is unable 
to attend even to trivial matters, much less can 
it comply with the claims of rehgion. See then 



36 A PARTING WORD. 

what you do in waiting till you are ill ! You - 
postpone the most important, the most difficult 
of all tasks, to the time when in all probability 
your faculties will be at the very lowest point 
of capacity ! Would you act so in other things ? 
If you had work to do requiring the nicest ex- 
ercise of the eyesight, would you defer it from J 
noon till the gloom of evening? If it demanded 
the greatest muscular effort, would you wait till 
you were fatigued with the. long labor of the 
day? And can you be wise in waiting for 
sickness, in hope of being then better able to 
" work out your own salvation " ? 

Multitudes at this moment are bitterly con- 
scious of the folly of such a course. Their 
past sins stare them in the face. How they^ 
wish that they had sought salvation when they 
were well ! But now they feel that the work 
is too arduous. Their pain is so great, their 
weariness so distressing ; they cannot read, 
they cannot listen, they cannot collect their 
thoughts. But they say, if God will restore 
them once more to health, then they will serve 



\ 



\ 



A PARTING WORD. 37 

Him; but not Now! They wait for health, 
you wait for sickness. But does not their 
excuse for delay afford a sufficient reply to 
yours ? ' 

Consider the power of habit, both as affect- 
ing the plea just considered and that to which 
we shall presently refer. Whatever we have 
done once, we do more easily a second time. 
As we repeat the act, our thoughts and our 
muscles still more readily perform their task, 
until that which at first required much labor is 
performed with scarcely any conscious exertion. 
On a very rough road a new effort is needed to 
drag the carriage over every fresh impediment. 
Habit, as a skilful engineer, levels the land, 
and lays down rails. Now, the most heavily- 
laden train, whatever the effort at first needed 
to start it, moves easily along with an increas- 
ing velocity, though impelled by a diminished 
force. Thus is human toil in providing for the 
necessities and comforts of life greatly dimin- 
ished. In the same way habit influences moral 
conduct. By every repetition of an act we 



38 A PARTING WORD. 



v 



acquire greater facility both in good and in evil 
doing. 

If you put off repentance, two habits are 
strengthened, — that of actual sin, and that of 
delay in religion. As long as you are putting 
off the repenting of sin, you are going on in 
the commission of it. Every sin renders more 
easy every subsequent indulgence ; and every 
act of procrastination increases this tendency 
for the future. You are ^ thus becoming more 
of an adept, both in committing sin and in 
putting off repentance. Every day you run 
more rapidly the road to destruction, and post- 
pone more readily the effort to turn back. 
With ever-accelerating velocity you rush down- 
ward to death ; yet while thus rendering neces- 
sary greater efforts to check your advance, at 
every step you throw away some of the little 
strength which still remains. "Stop! stop! 
)^ou are approaching the precipice!" "No," 
you reply, "it is too difficult at present. I will 
slacken speed when I have gone a little 
farther!" That is, when the peril is nearer, 



A PARTING WORD. 39 

your pace swifter, and your strength less ! You 
are thus most fatally acting, when you fancy 
you are safely deferring. You are confirming 
the habit of living in sin. You are also con- 
firming the habit of delaying repentance. The 
work to be done is being rendered more diffi- 
cult, while you are becoming less inclined, that 
is, less able, to do it. 

You are perhaps one of that numerous class 
who delay repentance till they are older. You 
say that you cannot be expected to be religious 
while your passions are so strong and your 
temptations so many ; but that after a few years 
you will be better able to obey the stern com- 
mand to "deny yourself," and "mortify the 
deeds of the body." It is true that your pas- 
sions may become less vehement ; but it is also 
true that the habit of indulging them will be- 
come more confirmed. The physical impulse 
may be weaker, but the mental bias will be 
stronger. The inducement will diminish, but 
the tendency will increase. The nearer you 
get to the end of your sinful race, though the 



40 A PARTING WORD, 

prize after which you have been panting will 
become evidently more worthless, inexorable 
habit will scourge you to a still swifter pace 
than before. 

Take an illustration from the miser. He has 
spent a long life hoarding up wealth. The 
older he grows the more reluctant is he to part 
with it, the more anxious is he to increase it. 
He is now drawing near to the grave. As 
he can carry none of his money with him, the 
time rapidly diminishes during which he can 
make any use of it. And yet, while its value 
decreases, his grasp of it becomes more firm. 
The capacity of gratification is less, but the 
strength of covetousness is greater. 

So it is with every sinful habit. There may 
be no longer the physical power of indulging 
it, yet the imagination may still cherish it, the 
mind may still cling to it. The most hardened 
depravity may lurk within the breast of him 
who seems innocent, only because he is power- 
less. Profoundly true is the declaration of the 
Bible, "As a man tkznketh in his hearty so is 



1 
I 



A PARTING WORD. 4I 

he." A career of sin confirms the thoughts of 
the heart in sinfulness, and these determine his 
true character. The body and mind set out 
together in the fatal journey ; but when the 
body is worn out and cannot keep up with its 
more active companion, the mind rushes on 
alone. A profane man becomes more profane, 
though he lose the faculty of speech ; a mur- 
derer more murderous, though deprived of all 
power to injure. So that when the induce- 
ments to sin and the facility of indulgence have 
alike departed, the tendency to sin, rendered 
permanent by habit, urges its victim ever down- 
ward. He no longer grasps the bawbles with 
which at first the phantom pleasure beguiled 
him. He no longer sees that phantom itself. 
It has vanished with a derisive laugh, or turned 
into the ghastly figure of death. Yet, having 
acquired a certain impetus in the pursuit, he 

* 

cannot now stop, though there is nothing to 
pursue but what he would give all he possesses 
to avoid. No ! the power of sin does not cease 
with its pleasantness. On the contrary, as its 



42 A PARTING WORD. 

charms depart, its strength augments. Beauty 
fades from the face of the siren, but her bony 
grasp holds her victim safe. The more the 
fetter pinches, the tighter that fetter binds. 
The vulture gnaws the vitals, but the iron links 
of habit, despite the captive's screams, chain 
him to the rock. " Can the Ethiopian change 
his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may 
ye also do good that are accustomed to do 
evil." 

Do not then postpone repentance in the hope 
that old age is better able to resist temptation. 
Nor imagine that because your spirits will then 
be less buoyant, your thoughts will more read- 
ily dwell upon religion. The mind, long 
accustomed to occupy itself with trifles, will 
not be disposed at the close of life, when all its 
powers are enfeebled, to grapple with a subject 
which demands so much patient attention. The 
theme which has been habitually banished, will 
not spontaneously return. You and godliness, 
long separated, will be likely to remain so for- 
ever. This is verified by facts. How very 



i 



1 



A PARTING WORD. 43 

few who have hved a long life of procrastina- 
tion are converted in old age ! The wildness 
of youth may have given place to the sedate- 
ness of years ; but gravity is not godliness, and 
may be quite as irreligious as gayety. Amidst 
that early frivolity, solemn thoughts do some- 
times burst upon the soul and startle it into 
seriousness. But when the sinner has grown 
old and hardened in procrastination, what can 
arouse him from that settled deadly calm which 
broods over him? The special grace of God 
alone ! But according to human probability 
and the general method of the divine dealings, 
"it is impossible to renew him again unto re- 
pentance." 

Will you presume to postpone obedience on 
the plea that God has not given you sufficient 
grace — thus charging your sin on Him? What 
more are you waiting for? Solemn warnings? 
These you have already had. Invitations? 
They are repeated to you even now, as you 
read this book. Strivings of the Spirit? 
These also you have felt and resisted. Your 



44 A PARTING WORD. 

present putting off repentance, is a putting 
away of the Holy Ghost to whom it is owing 
that you feel repentance needful. If you im- 
prove what you have, will not more be given? 
But where is the promise for those who trifle 
with the gift of God, and do " despite unto the 
Spirit of Grace?" Jesus is now saying, "Be- 
hold, I stand at the door and knock. If any 
man open the door, I will come in to him, 
and sup with him, and he with me." How 
much longer do you intend to keep Him there ? 
While postponing religion until you receive 
more grace, are you not practically saying that 
He must knock louder before you will admit 
Him to your heart? But will He always thus 
wait upon your leisure ? Will the King much 
longer stand and urge the acceptance of his 
royal pardon, on a rebel who trifles with his 
long-suffering by saying, "If I keep Him 
waiting He will be more tempting in his 
offers, more earnest in his appeals, and more 
powerful in his persuasions?" 

O, sinner ! will you dare thus to tamper with 



A PARTING WORD. 45 

the Almighty? Will you be bargaining with 
Him? Will you refuse his gift to-day, pre- 
suming that He will offer more to-morrow? 
Will you plead the grace you expect, as an 

) excuse for resisting the grace you have got? 
O, beware ! He may, instead of increasing, 
withdraw his gift. The Spirit may be so re- 
sisted as to leave you alone. The sacred flame 

I may be so quenched as to go out. The words 
spoken of the Jews may be verified in your 
case : " My people would not hearken to my 

!• voice, and Israel would none of me. So I 

I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust, 
and they walked in their own counsels ! " 
Jerusalem had her day of opportunity but 
abused it. Instead of receiving more grace, 
that which she had was taken away, and she 
was left to perish! Jesus, "full of grace," 
wept over that guilty and doomed city, saying, 
*' If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in 
this thy day, the things which belong unto thy 
peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes ! '* 
Reader ! the present is your season of grace. 



46 A PARTING WORD. 

Do not waste it in presumptuous expectations 
of some day of still stronger light. The night 
may be fast closing in upon you forever ! 
Work while it is called to-day ! The Holy 
Ghost saith, " To-day if ye will hear his voice, 
harden not your heart ! " If, by waiting for 
more grace, you class yourself with those who 
"tempted Him and proved Him," God may 
class you with them in the threatening, — 
"Unto whom I sware in my wrath, that they 
should not enter into my rest." 

See, then, your position. The chances of 
there being a to-morrow at all lessen every 
day, 'because it is certain that a day is coming 
to every one which will be absolutely the last. 
But the longer you delay repentance, the 
stronger the habit of delay becomes. So that 
as the chance of there being any to-morrow 
becomes less, your tendency to put off till to- 
morrow becomes greater ! Every act of sin 
gives sin a stronger mastery over you, and yet 
you wait till to-morrow, as a mofe convenient ! 
season, though by the very act of waiting you 



A PARTING WORD. 47 

render it less convenient ! You hope to be 
willing to repent to-morrow, although you are 
unwilling to repent to-day ; and you are unwill- 
ing to repent to-day, because you hope to be 
willing to-morrow. You are foolish to-day, yet 
in this very foolishness you predict that you will 
be wise to-morrow. Relying on this predic- 
tion, you postpone an act which, by that very 
postponement, becomes less likely of accom- 
plishment. 

Like a foolish fly, caught in the crafty 
spider's web, you feel yourself entangled, but 
will not try to escape. You might, by strug- 
gling vigorously, break away. Yet you say. 
Not now ! tO'Jitorrow ! But while you are 
waiting, your subtle foe, skilfully, quietly, con- 
stantly, winds his invisible but potent film 
more and more securely round you. If you 
find' that the work of escape is too difficult 
now, what will it be to-morrow ? 

You are inhaling chloroform, at a time when 
you have most important business to transact. 
Under its stupefying influence you feel indis- 



48 A PARTING WORD. 

posed for exertion. By a great effort you 
could, if you started up at once, throw aside 
the chloroform and begin the work. But you 
say, "Wait a while till I have inhaled a little 
more, and then I will try." O, reader ! the 
indifference you feel to religion is the effect 
of the devil's chloroform. Inhale a little more, 
and sleep becomes death. Now, while you 
may, arouse yourself! Breathe the pure air 
of divine truth and love ! Rush from the fatal 
charm of the sorcerer. Begin at once the great 
business of your salvation. Now is the ac- 
cepted time ! 

A deadly serpent has sprung upon you. He 
is coiling himself around you. More and 
more firm becomes his grasp. Nov»^ his fangs 
are fastened in your flesh. He drinks your 
life-blood. Every moment he becomes fiercer 
and stronger by what he feeds on. Every 
moment you become fainter and feebler. | 
Why do you not .struggle to throw off* the 
reptile ? Why do you not cry aloud for help ? 
You reply, "This I intend to do by and by. 

4 



A PARTING WORD. 49 

Now it is too difBcult, but I expect it will be 
easier to-morrow, and then I will begin." O, 
reader ! do you not see that if your enemy is 
strong to-day he will be stronger to-morrow? 
that if you are weak to-day you will be weaker 
to-morrow? and that he will be stronger and 
you weaker by that very delay? O, then, 
commence the conflict NOW ! 



V. 



THE WHOLE OF LIFE IS NOT TOO LONG FOR 
THE WORK OF SALVATION : THEREFORE 
BEGIN NOW! 

Many persons regard religion as simply an 
expedient for escaping from hell : a work 
which must be done before death, but for which 
all da3^s are equally suitable, and any one day 
sufficient. Even on this supposition we have 
shown that it is wise to repent now ; because 
we are only sure of to-day ; because we can 
only act to-day ; because the desire may not 
survive to-day ; because the work is easier 

4 



50 A PARTING WORD. 

to-day. Procrastination, though with the most 
sincere determination to repent hereafter, ex- 
poses us to the risk of dying before that day 
arrives ; leaves the work itself not even com- 
menced ; neglects an opportunity when we do 
in some measure feel its importance, for anoth- 
er when we may be altogether indifferent re- 
specting it, and when the habit both of the 
practice of sin and the delay of repentance 
must render repentance far more difficult than 
it is now. Thus we have endeavored to prove 
that repentance should be set about at once^ 
even on the supposition of its being a single 
act, the only object of which is to secure deliv- 
erance from hell. 

But religion is a work for the whole of life, 
and is so important and so difficult that no 
one may safely spare a single day from the 
prosecution of it. Repentance is not crying 
for mercy through fear of punishment, but a 
change of mind in reference to sin, duty, and 
God. You have to abhor iniquity itself, and 
not merely dread its penalty; to mourn that 



A PARTING WORD. 5 1 

you ever transgressed against a righteous and 
merciful God ; to exercise faith in Christ, and, 
by becoming holy in your character, to be 
fitted for the enjoyment of a holy heaven — 
" made meet for the inheritance of the saints in 
light." Will it be easy to hate w^hat you have 
always loved — to love what you have always 
hated? Will it be easy to seek God after 
spending life in trying to forget Him? to pray 
sincerely and earnestly, when prayer has been 
always neglected? to confide in the Savior 
whom you always shunned ? and to have your 
whole tastes and sympathies so changed that 
the presence and service of God would be the 
happiest home of the soul ? " Without holiness 
no man can see the Lord." Without this ho- 
liness there is no true repentance. Is then 
repentance so easy a work that you can safely 
lose one single day before you commence it? 

Salvation is a free gift. But salvation is also 
the hardest of all work. ""^Strive to enter in at 
the strait gate. Labor to enter into that rest. 
Fight the good fight of faith.. Crucify the 



52 A PARTING WORD. 

flesh." It IS a change of heart, a transforma- 
tion of character, a new Hfe. It is the hum- 
bhng of pride, the curbing of the passions, 
the destruction of self-will. It is the subjuga- 
tion of appetite to reason, of impulse to con- 
science, of the flesh to the spirit. It is the 
undoing the work of all former years, the 
untwisting the coils which the devil had long 
been winding round us, and the training us to 
new habits of thought and action. It is the 
turning back of the full tide of selfish, worldly, 
and vain desires, and the steady flow of the 
soul towards holiness and God. It is the heart 
which once regarded its own pleasure as the 
highest good, seeking as its chief end and su- 
preme delight, the glory of its Maker. It is 
the prodigal coming back to his Father, and, 
with tastes, desires, habits changed, living as 
a child at home, contented, happy, confiding, 
submissive ; and by a course of life entirely 
new, proving the sincerity of his repentance 
and his gratitude. It is nothing less than be- 
coming a " new creature ; " being "born again ; " 



i 



A PARTING WORD. 53 

^^ old things passing away and all things be- 
coming new." 

If this is salvation, can we regard the attain- 
ment of it as a work to be easily performed 
whenever we please, and which we can afford 
to put off till the close of life? We should 
rather feel that not an hour must be lost before 
we set about it. "Virtue is not a mushroom 
that springeth up in one night when we are 
asleep, or regard it not; but a delicate plant 
that groweth slowly and tenderly, needing 
much pains to cultivate it, much care to guard 
it, much time to mature it in our untoward 
soil, in this world's unkindly weather. Hap- 
piness is a thing too precious to be purchased 
at an easy rate. Heaven is too high to be 
come at without much climbing. The crown 
of bliss is a prize too noble to be won with- 
out a long and tough conflict. Neither is vice 
a spirit that will be conjured down with a 
charm. It is not an adversary that can be 
knocked down at a blow or despatched with a 
stab. Whoever shall pretend that at any time, 



54 



A PARTING WORD. 



easily, with celerity, by any mysterious knack, 
a man may be settled in virtue, or converted 
from vice, common experience abundantly will 
confute him, which showeth that a habit (set- 
ting miracles aside) cannot otherwise be pro- 
duced or destroyed than by a constant exercise 
of acts suitable or opposite thereto." 

You perhaps reply, "This seems to limit the 
grace of God, who is surely able to save me at 
any time, without all this toilsome process on 
my part. The penitent thief was pardoned at 
the very close of a wicked life, and went im- 
mediately to Paradise. The laborers w^ho en- 
tered the vineyard at the eleventh hour received 
the same wages as they w^ho had toiled all the 
day. Why then may I not hope that if I begin 
to repent, even at the close of life, I may obtain 
salvation ? " 

Nothing can be further from the purpose of 
this book than any limiting of the mercy of that 
God who says, "As I live, I have no pleasure 
in the death of the wicked, but that he turn 
from his wickedness and live." Every sinner 



A PARTING WORD. 55 

who truly turns to Him will be forgiven. " Him 
that Cometh unto me I will in no wise cast 
out : " on no account^ and therefore not on ac- 
count of the sinner having neglected to come 
until the last day of his life. This is unques- 
tionable, glorious truth. But salvation has 
another aspect, equally scriptural, equally im- 
portant, and it is to this that your attention is 
now directed. Doubt not the grace of God ; 
but abuse it not by delaying to make those 
efforts which grace has itself prescribed. You 
have a work to do as well as a gift to receive ; 
a work inseparably connected with the gift ; a 
work essential to salvation ; a work demanding 
your best energies every day you live. If God 
on His part "worketh in you to will and to do," 
you on your part are to " work out your own 
salvation with fear and trembling." Surely 
these words imply not only severe but contin- 
ual and persevering toil if you are to "lay hold 
on eternal life." 

The cases you quote are too often wrested 
from their true function, and made an excuse 



56 A PARTING WORD. 

for presumptuous delay. The thief was par- 
doned, but he was penitent. If, like him, you 
repent, you niay be sure, like him, of forgive- 
ness. But can you make sure of repentance? 
God has promised that all who seek shall find ; 
but He never promised that they who now de- 
liberately reject shall hereafter seek. As the 
difficulty increases by delay, the longer you 
wait the less likely you are to seek, and there- 
fore the less likely to find. Most probably the 
thief had never heard the gospel before. His 
case then is totally unlike yours, if you put off* 
accepting the mercy which he embraced at 
once. Besides, can you for a moment imagine 
that had he been taken down from the cross 
alive, and survived many years, he would havie 
laid aside his religion until death again ap- 
proached? Plead then no longer this illustrious 
example of divine love, as an excuse for trifling 
with that love ; nor expect that because at the 
last hour Christ forgave the thief, being peni- 
tent, He will, by a miracle of grace, save you, 
if, unlike that thief, you now resolve to post- 



A PARTING WORD. 57 

pone repentance. It has been said that one 
such instance is recorded that none may 
despair; and only one, that none may pre- 
sume. 

Neither ought the parable of the laborers to 
give any encouragement to procrastinators. 
The object of Christ was to show that the 
Jews, though for many generations they had 
enjoyed the privileges of God's peculiar people, 
were not to receive greater benefits from the 
gospel than the Gentiles, who now, as at the 
eleventh hour, were called to work in the 
vineyard. But even granting that the para- 
ble may be applied to the case of individuals, 
it certainly cannot apply to you. When the 
workmen were asked why they stood in the 
market-place all the day idle, they replied, 
"Because no man hath hired us." Can you 
say this? Have you not repeatedly been in- 
vited to repent, that is, to change your mind, 
and, instead of being the slave of the devil, to 
devote yourself to the service of God? Is not 
the Lord of the vineyard at this moment wait- 



58 



A PARTING WORD. 



ing to "hire" you? You cannot, then, plead 
this parable as an excuse for remaining idle. 
Yet you are practically saying, " It is only the 
third hour of the day, or the sixth, or at most 
the ninth. I will wait a little longer, for if I 
begin as late as the eleventh hour, I shall re- 
ceive as much as those who have labored all 
the day ! " , 

O reader, do not thus " wrest the Scriptures 
unto your own destruction ! " Do not imagine 
that if God summons you to work now, it is 
not necessary to begin at once. Do not make 
so sure that if you give all but the dregs of life 
unto the devil, and only the dregs to Christ, the 
eleventh hour will find you in the vineyard. 
But even if it should, will your condition be the 
same as if you had been spending all your days 
in the service of God? This does not seem 
reasonable. This certainly is not scriptural. 
All who die penitent die pardoned. But salva- 
tion is conformity to Christ ; and, though all 
who' repent enter heaven, they do hot all make 
equal attainments in salvation. The greater the 



A PARTING WORD. 59 

toil the greater the progress. '^ He which sow- 
eth sparingly shall reap also sparingly ; and he 
which soweth bountifully shall reap also boun- 
tifully." There are different degrees in glory, 
as there are different attainments in grace. 
There is a recompensing with "ten cities," 
and a recompensing with "five." To "lay up 
for ourselves treasures in heaven," implies 
continued, repeated, persevering efforts, even 
as men accumulate treasures upon earth. If 
he who gives only " a cup of cold water " to one 
of Christ's little ones, "shall in no wise lose his 
reward," can he who lets slip all opportunities 
of thus serving Christ be no loser because he 
obtains pardon on his death-bed? Though he 
may gain heaven, can he expect "an abundant 
entrance"? This, by the apostle Peter, is rep- 
resented as dependent on the efforts put forth to 
attain it. "Giving all diligence, add to your 
faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, 
godliness, brotherly kindness, charity ; for if 
ye do these things ye shall never fall : for so 
an entrance shall be ministered unto you abun^ 



6o A PARTING WORD. 

dantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord 
and Savior Jesus Christ." 

The longest life is not too long for such a 
service. Christians must be " always abound- 
ing in the work of the Lord." How can you 
then with so much levity delay even to com- 
mence? If those who hope they belong to 
God's called and chosen ones, are nevertheless 
exhorted to ^"^ give diligence to make their call- 
ing and election sure^^'' can you, who are des- 
titute of this hope, spend in indolent delay a 
single hour that might be employed in obeying 
the divine call, and thus participating in the 
privileges of the elect? God, who renders "to 
every man according to his deeds," will bestow 
eternal life on those who " by -patient continue 
ance in well-doing seek for glory, and honor, 
and immortality." Christians are exhorted to 
" run with patience the race that is set before 
them," — to " pray without ceasing ; " — to " go 
on unto perfection," and to be "filled with the 
fruits of righteousness." These exhortations are 
addressed to those who have already repented, 



A PARTING WORD. 6l - 

and have found mercy. Yet even they have 
no time for trifling. They are fleeing from 
hell, but its armies are in hot pursuit. They 
are reaching forth after heaven, but they have 
not yet crossed its threshold. The ground is 
spread with snares. The arrows of temptation 
fly thick and fast. Satan is ever plotting their 
ruin ; now lurking in ambush to fall on them 
when oflf their guard ; now, undisguised, 
casting at them his fiery darts, or in deadly 
struggle striving once more to regain possession 
of his prey. But God is " working in them to 
will and to do." The Holy Spirit " helpeth 
their infirmities." Jesus, without ceasing, 
intercedes. Good angels minister to them in 
the strife. Sundays, Bibles, sermons, sacra- 
ments, all means of grace are appointed for 
their succor. As children, they are under con- 
stant training. They are chastened by great 
. and divers trials, for the exercising and matur- 
ing of their faith and patience. The refiner's 
furnace has often to be heated for them. Noth- 
ing which God has kindly ordained for their 



62 A PARTING WORD. 

help can safely be dispensed with. They need 
it all. They have no time to lose. They are 
like men racing for a prize, who will not turn 
aside, nor loiter in the course, but who press 
straight on, turning neither to the right hand 
nor to the left. The most eminent Christians, 
those who are the most safe for eternity, are 
those who are thus convinced that there is not 
a single Now in which salvation does not de- 
mand their chief exertions. They who possess 
in fullest degree that which you have not 
begun to seek, are the very persons who will 
most emphatically tell you that if they were 
sure of living a hundred years, they dare not 
suspend for one day, the work for which you 
seem to think a single day enough! Be not 
deceived ! Religion is for every day : the whole 
of life is not too long for working out your 
salvation: therefore begin NOW. 



A PARTING WORD. 63 



VI . 



SIN INFLICTS PRESENT EVILS. AVOID THEM 

BY REPENTING NOW ! 

Consider the uncertainty to which we alluded 
in the first chapter. You may not see to- 
morrow ! But if vou should, still meanwhile 
you cannot be sure of it. You are always 
liable to be haunted by the terrible apprehen- 
sion th3,t you may be cut off in your sins, that 
you may at any moment be hurried into eter- 
nity, impenitent, unsaved ! Is not this a pres- 
ent evil? Yes, so great an evil that you irra- 
tionally strive to dismiss from your mind a 
consideration solemnly true, because it would 
interfere with your business, embitter your 
pleasures, scare you in your sleep. Is not the 
painful effort you make an evil? You try to 
forget you may be on the brink of hell, yet 
you often start as if you heard the roar of its 
thunder, and saw the fearful gleam of its fiery 
lake. Is not this a present positive evil which 
might be avoided by repenting now ? 



64 A PARTING WORD. 

But if you feel secure against danger, you 
are at least conscious of deferring a most im- 
portant and difficult work. You have not the 
present labor, but you have the fretting antici- 
pation of it. Whenever you think of religion 
at all, you must feel oppressed by the convic- 
tion that there is a work to be done before you 
die, ever increasing in difficulty, yet not com- 
menced. Would it not be better to avoid the 
present positive evil of such a state of mind by 
repenting now ? 

Moreover, every day you wait, you are add- 
ing to the list of sins for which you must 
give account. That is a fearful text which 
speaks of sinners in their " hard and impenitent 
heart, treasuring up unto themselves wrath 
against the day of wrath " ! You are now, by 
delaying repentance, actually piling up the 
mountain of condemnation and ruin which 
threatens to crush you ! Every day you defer 
repentance you add to the heap ! If the catas- 
trophe is future, the evil is being prepared 
now ! Should you avoid the catastrophe by 



A PARTING WORD. 65 

repenting before you die, you are still heaping 
up a store of unhappy memories. If God 
chooses to forget, the pardoned sinner himself 
cannot, at least in this world. Take the testi- 
mony of those who have obtained mercy after 
years spent in wickedness. How their former 
sins weigh upon their spirits ! "Then shall ye 
remember your own evil ways and your doings 
that were riot good, and shall loathe yourselves 
in your own sight for your iniquities and for 
your transgressions, that thou mayst remember 
and be confounded and- never open thy mouth 
any more because of thy shame, when I am 
pacified towards thee for all that thou hast 
done, saith the Lord God." You are laying 
up in store such bitter memories ! You are 
feeding such a worm ! You are knotting such 
a scourge ! You are doing this now ! 

Above all, bear in mind, that now, while de- 
laying repentance, "the wrath of God abideth 
on you." Not only will He manifest it to- 
wards transgressors at the final judgment — 
He feels it now. He is compassionate — He 

5 



66 A PARTING WORD. 

waits to pardon — but if men reject or deliber- 
ately trifle with His mercy, " He is angry with 
the wicked every day." It is an awful con- 
sideration for any one, that God is angry with 
him ! This is your case, while procrastinating. 
It matters not that you mean to repent here- 
after. You are not repenting 7tow. There- 
fore you are sinning now ! And therefore 
God is angry with you now ! His justice, 
wisdom, truth, love, unite in condemning you 
now. His omnipresence pursues you now. 
His omnipotence is ready to punish you now. 
You are degraded now — leagued with the 
devil now — an enemy to God now — frowned 
on by Heaven now. Even should you be 
pardoned hereafter, to be in such a condition 
for a single hour, is a fearful, unutterable evil ! 
O, avoid it by repenting now ! 



A PARTING WORD. 67 

VII. 

GODLINESS CONFERS PRESENT BENEFITS : SE- 
CURE THEM BY REPENTING NOW. 

Religion is not a mere passport to pleasures 
which cannot be tasted till we die. It is not 
a heavy tax to pay, but a priceless and a pres- 
ent gift to receive. It is not a fast, but a feast, 
at which we are invited to partake, not only 
in heaven hereafter, but on earth now. Pardon 
full and free — the favor of God — the honor 
of serving Him — the privilege of intercourse 
with Him — joy and peace in believing — the 
blessed hope of immortality — these are offered 
now ! Why then defer accepting them? 

A prisoner under condemnation, waits in his 
cell the summons of the executioner. His 
body is weighed down with heavy chains ; his 
mind with the still heavier dread of a violent 
and shameful death. But a pardon is offered 
him, with immediate release from captivity, 
and restoration to his home. Does he say, 
" Doubtless the offer will hold good to-morrow 



68 A PARTING WORD. 

as well as to-day ; so I will remain yet longer 
in my cell " ? Though he were sure of liberty 
to-morrow, why should he wait if he can enjoy 
it now 1 And why, O sinner, bound by the 
chain of thy sins, exposed to the penalty of 
death, why wait one moment in thy dark dun- 
geon when thou mayst escape at once ? 

If you were a beggar in the street, and some 
friend were to bring you clothing, food, and 
the offer of a comfortable home, would you 
put off receiving them till to-morrow? And 
will you dela}^ feasting at the banquet of divine 
love, arrayed in the white raiment of Christ's 
righteousness, and dwelling safely in God, as 
the home of the soul? If a large fortune were 
presented to you, though sure of possessing it 
in a year's time, would you deprive yourself of 
it meanwhile? And will you, who might this 
day become possessed of heavenly and incor- 
ruptible treasure, whom the King of kings is 
now willing to receive to a private audience, 
and to ennoble by special honors, wait till to- 
morrow ? Can the iron links which bind you 



A PARTING WORD. 69 

be struck off too soon? Can you leave the 
foul dungeon of tyranny too soon ? Can your 
rags be exchanged for royal attire, can you be 
seated at the King's banqueting table too soon ? 
What? Be rich, healthy, honored, happy, too 
soon? Too soon experience the "peace which 
passeth all understanding ; " " the joy which is 
unspeakable and full of glory " ? 

VIII. 

DUTY TO GOD DEMANDS REPENTANCE NOW. 

Even if no hell followed sin, and if godliness 
promised no heaven, we ought not to put off 
repentance one single day, because of this 
highest of all reasons — God commands obedi- 
ence now. It is our first duty to serve our 
Maker. If He endowed us with all our facul- 
ties, reason itself tells us that we should em- 
ploy them in obedience to His will. He is not 
only Creator and Ruler, but He is most holy, 
most wise, most kind ; so that we are under all 
conceivable obligations to acknowledge that 



70 A PARTING WORD. 

"the chief end of man is to glorify God." He 
has made known to us His will by his beloved 
Son. The commands of such a Sovereign, 
communicated by such an Ambassador, ought 
to be obeyed simply because they are his com- 
mands. 

But we have disobeyed. Yet we are invited 
to seek forgiveness, and henceforth to love and 
serve our Creator and Redeemer. His merci- 
ful command to us as sinners is this : " Trust in 
Him whom I have sent ; repent, and believe 
the gospel." This is my duty at once. If I, a 
condemned rebel, am summoned to lay down 
my arms under the promise of immediate for- 
giveness, do I not fearfully increase my crime 
if I say, "I will accept the offer hereafter"? 
I thus admit I am a rebel, but resolve to go on 
rebelling ! A promise to serve God to-morrow 
is a determination to rebel against Him to-day. 
Obedience is not a debt to be paid once for all, 
but a service which we are bound to render 
continually. If, then, I am postponing it, I am 
meanwhile absolutely repudiating it. I dare to 



A PARTING WORD. 7 1 

look up to the Sovereign Ruler of the universe 
and say, "It is my duty to serve Thee, and 
when I feel it easy and convenient, I intend to 
begin to do so ; but for the present, I choose to 
go on a little longer in my sin ! " 

Would a private soldier dare to say to his 
commanding officer, I will attend to orders 
to-morrow? If you were a master, what 
would you think of your servant telling you 
he would attend to your wishes when it 
suited his convenience? What would be your 
feelings if your own child, tenderly nurtured 
and beloved, were to say, "Father, I don't in- 
tend to honor and obey you till to-morrow"? 
Would not this be an act of unnatural and 
daring disobedience to-day? But thus you are 
treating Him who, as your Master and Father, 
has every claim on your service and love now. 
He Himself says, "A son honoreth his father 
and a servant his master. If, then, I be a 
Father, where is my honor, and if I be a Mas- 
ter, where is my fear?" He is always our 
Master, always our Father, and, as his claims 



72 A PARTING WORD. 

are never suspended, so our obedience is al- 
ways due : every morning that dawns upon us, 
every evening that darkens around us, every 
hour that strikes, every pulse that beats, reit- 
erates his appeal. Were we sure of a thou- 
sand to-morrows, and were we equally sure 
there would be no day of retribution, duty to 
our Maker demands repentance NOW ! 



IX. 



GRATITUDE SHOULD PROMPT YOU TO REPENT- 
ANCE NOW. 

Are you insensible to the claims of right ? 
then listen to those of lovet If the majesty 
of God does not awe you, let his mercy melt 
you. He, the Creator and Ruler, condescends 
to entreat you to be reconciled. He delighteth 
in mercy, and wishes to bestow on you that 
mercy now ! The Father from whom you 
have wandered now stands with open door, 
and earnestly invites you home ! *^ Return, ye 
backsliding children ! " Can you hesitate ? 



A PARTING WORD. 73 

The Son of God is now waiting to bestow on 
you the salvation He purchased with his blood. 
He appeals to you, saying, "Come unto me"! 
He takes you by the hand to lead you to the 
throne of grace where He Himself will plead 
your cause. Shall such a friend be despised 
and rejected for one single hour? However 
sure you may be of repenting to-morrow, will 
you now insult Him by delay? The Holy 
Spirit is now striving within you for your sal- 
vation. He is counselling, warning, encour- 
aging, entreating you now. Will you any 
longer resist and grieve Him? If you have 
any generous feelings, a small token of kind- 
ness, even from an inferior, draws forth a 
prompt response : still more, from one greatly 
your superior, and from whom you have 
merited contrary treatment. Yet you close 
your ear against the loving voice of God ! 
" He waiteth to be gracious ! " waiteth to show 
kindness ! Shall the Lord of Heaven stand 
waiting to show kindness to a rebel, and shall 
that rebel delay to accept it? 



74 A PARTING WORD. 

Reader ! before you lay down this book, suf- 
fer it to plead with you a little longer. Despise 
not its warning. Reconsider its arguments. 
If singly they do not convince you, put them 
together. Force yourself to look at them, to 
ponder them, and, if you have nothing to out- 
weigh them but what sound reason must con- 
demn, O, yield to them ! Or, rather, yield to 
the persuasion of your Heavenly Father, who, 
in the gospel of His Son, and by His Spirit 
striving in your heart, is even now calling you 
lo repentance. Censure the author if you will, 
— blame the book, its language, its method; 
toss it aside, never open it again, — but, in the 
name of a God of Love, and as you value your 
eternal salvation, trifle not with the message 
which it endeavors to urge from Him who 
" desireth not the death of a sinner, but that he 
turn from his wickedness and live." 

Your soul is in danger ! While putting off 
repentance, you are travelling towards hell. 
Death watches his opportunity to push you in 
and slam the doors upon you. Those doors 



A PARTING WORD. 75 

you will never be able to open. There will be 
no escape. Unless you repent, you perish ! 
You know this ; but you comfort yourself with 
the intention to repent to-morrow ! To-mor- 
row? The irrevocable sentence may be pro- 
nounced to-morrow! To-morrow? You may 
be where there is "weeping, and wailing, and 
gnashing of teeth " to-morrow ! It is not a 
rare event for sinners to be damned, who were 
always intending to be saved. For every soul 
in hell who determined to persevere in wicked- 
ness, there are a thousand who did just what 
you are doing — they promised to repent to- 
morrow I You are not warned against a dan- 
ger to which few persons only are exposed. 
The rapid tide from which this book tries to 
snatch you is sweeping multitudes all around 
you to perdition. 

Say not, " a little sleep, a little slumber ! " 
Are you sure of a little hour in which your 
"httle slumber" will be safe? No! but from 
past experience you are sure that the little 
slumber you demand will lead to a little more. 



76 A PARTING WORD. 

Thus the whole of life may be wasted in the 
bed of the sluggard, and the trumpet call to 
judgment may be the first sound that scares 
you from your dreams ! O, listen to the voice 
of warning now! "Awake thou that sleep- 
est ! " Awake now ! " Seek the Lord while 
He maybe found!" Seek Him now! "Be- 
lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt 
be saved ! " Believe now ! Confess to Him 
your sins, ask pardon through his blood, rely 
on his atonement, implore the help of his 
Spirit, devote yourself entirely to his service ! 
Do it now ! " Strive to enter in at the strait 
gate " now ! Offer the prayer, " God be mer- 
ciful to me a sinner" now! Too much time 
has been wasted already. Lose no more I 
This may be your only opportunity ! Seize it 
now ! 

The coast of life is continually being en- 
croached upon by the ocean of time. The 
land given you to cultivate for eternity has 
narrow limits at the best. Slowly but surely 
the tide is sweeping over it. If you sow pre- 



A PARTING WORD. 77 

cious seed there, it will spring up unto life 
eternal when the waters recede. But if you 
neglect to till it, that land will be unproductive 
forever. Nay, it will produce a fearful harvest 
of wrath, corruption, and woe, which you your- 
self must reap ! Field after field has been 
already submerged while you were sleeping. 
What remains is every hour becoming smaller. 
Awake ! awake ! The tide is rolling in upon 
you ! Soon and suddenly the very last strip 
of land may be covered, and you yourself be 
swept away to perdition ! 

It is the devil who suggests it would be bet- 
ter to wait. " He was a liar from the begin- ' 
ning ! " Better to wait? Does death wait? 
Does the judgment wait? Will Satan himself 
wait, as soon as he gets the signal to seize you 
as his prey forever? While 3^ou are waiting, 
does the wheel of your life stand still, and the 
thread of your probation cease to be untwined? 
Have you an unlimited store of days to trifle 
with ? Can you tell that when you next thrust 
your hand into that chest of opportunities you 



1 



78 A PARTING WORD. 

Will not find it empty? May not the one you 
are now trifling with be the very last that is 
left? Why do you act as if sure of twenty 
years? Are you sure of twenty hours — of 
twenty minutes — of a single second beyond 
this very now? 

What is it you are putting off* to this un- 
certainty? The work on which depends the 
question of ages of bliss or woe ! If the pos- 
session of riches, health, honor, friends, dur- 
ing the whole of your future life in this world, 
depended on some work of an hour, would you 
not seize the very first opportunity for doing it? 
If your house were in flames, would you wait 
till to-morrow before you tried to put out the 
fire? If your leg were broken, would you 
delay having it set? If you had been poi- 
soned, would you put oflF taking an antidote? 
And will you postpone the saving of that soul 
which is infinitely more precious than all the 
world contains? Neglect every other busi- 
ness — trifle with your property, your health, 
your life, — this would be wisdom compared 



A PARTING Word. 79 

with delaying for one day the salvation of the 
soul ! 

But you comfort yourself with the thought 
that though you defer repentance till to- 
morrow, you are encouraging good intentions 
to-day ! Of what value will they be, if you 
die before they are fulfilled? If the law appre- 
hends you in the act of theft, will the plea 
avail that if you had escaped, you intended to 
lead an honest life ? If you linger in the City 
of Destruction, will the purpose to flee screen 
you from the tempest of fire when it bursts? 
A good intention to be religious to-morrow, is 
only a bad resolve to remain wicked to-day. 
But it shows you have some sense of the im- ^ 
portance of repentance. Even this may be 
gone to-morrow ! Improve it now ! If you 
have difficulties to-day, you will have other and 
greater to-morrow. The devil, who persuades 
you tp wait, knows that " you will be hard- 
ened by the deceitfulness of sin." Therefore 
the Holy Ghost says, ""^ To-day^ harden not 
your heart." Therefore we are to " exhort 



8o A PARTING WORD. 

one another daily ^ while it is called to-day l"^"^ 
While you wait, you pamper two deadly foes 
— the habit of practising wickedness, and the 
habit of deferring repentance. You are daily 
becoming more of an adept in both these 
methods of suicide. Are you not, then, mad 
to think you will ever have a more convenient 
season than now? What? Find the path 
more readily when you have wandered from 
it more widely. Tear up a tree more easily 
when it is rooted more deeply? Draw a nail 
more quickly when it is clinched more firm- 
ly? Stem a torrent more safely, when it rolls 
more rapidly? The poisoned robe clings to 
you every day more tightly — off with it now ! 
lest if you wait, your very skin must be torn 
away with it ! 

But suppose you were sure of repenting to- 
morrow, and that delay would not increase the 
difficulty, still you should repent now, Reli^ 
gion is a work for every day ! Much has to be 
done, in a very short day, and the night cometh 
on quickly, when no one can wo'rk. They 



A PARTING WORD. 8l 

who toil for salvation have no time to spare. 
Besides, religion preserves from present evils, 
and bestows present blessings. Can you be 
delivered too soon from the dreadful sense of 
insecurity? Is a bad conscience so pleasant a 
companion that you do not wish to part? On 
the contrary, it is this which continually dis- 
turbs your peace and mars your sinful delights. 
"Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful." 
Why not be delivered from this tormentor at 
once? Is it not a terrible thing to have the 
Ruler of the universe your enemy for even one 
day? Or do you think the list of your sins is 
not long enough, nor the Judge angry enough, 
nor hell hot enough, but that you must for 
another day labor to increase the store of guilt, 
and wrath, and punishment? Yet if you desire 
it, you may obtain his favor at once ! You 
may be made holy and happy at once ! Why 
wait? Can the poor be enriched, the sick be 
healed, the sorrowful be gladdened, the out- 
cast restored, too soon? Even if you should 
be saved hereafter, will you be no loser by 

6 



82 A PARTING WORD. 

having so long been busy heaping up rubbish 
which might have proved fuel for your own 
destruction, when you could have been gather- 
ing incorruptible treasure? 

But there is a still higher motive ! Your 
Creator demands obedience now ! Did He 
make you to be your own master? While 
you say j^ou will serve Him to-morrow, do you 
not rebel against Him to-day? Is not putting 
off obedience putting it away meanwhile? Is 
there a moment in which you are not dependent 
on your Creator — a moment in which He 
ceases to have claims on you? Though sure 
of a thousand to-morrows, ought you not 
to obey now ? Should you not with David, 
"make haste, and dela}^ not, to keep his com- 
mandments"? If unawed by his authority will 
you not be won by his love? Will you trifle 
while the King of kings draws near to entreat 
a hell-deserving rebel to receive a free pardon, 
purchased by the blood of his own Son? He 
offers to receive you into his family, to number 
you among his children, to take you to dwell 



A PARTING WORD. 83 

with Him in blessedness forever ! Treat not 
with indifference such love, lest the threatening 
should be fulfilled, "Because I have called, and 
ye refused ; I have stretched out my hand and 
no man regarded : I also will laugh at your 
calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh; 
then shall they call upon me, but I will not 
answer ; for they would none of my counsel, 
they despised all my reproof; therefore shall 
they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be 
filled with their own devices ! " 

O, reject no longer the love of God ! Pro- 
voke no longer his wrath ! JVow^ now is the 
day of salvation ! Even this book, small and 
insignificant as it is, has made your case more 
critical. Before the devil snatches up the seed 
it has sown in your heart, before any slight im- 
pression produced by it has faded away — lest 
such impression, by being eflfaced, should make 
you less impressible — give heed to its warning 
now. 

Now I for time is short, and death is near, 
and judgment threatens ! Now! for in eternity 



*84 A PARTING WORD. 

it will be too late, and your very next step may 
land you there ! The only season of which 
you can be sure is now ! The only season in 
which you can work is now! The purpose 
may not last till to-morrow ; fulfil it now ! 
Fresh difficulties will flood the channel to-mor- 
row — wade it now ! The chain of evil habit 
will bind you more tightly to-morrow ; snap it 
now ! Religion is a work for every day ; be- 
gin it now ! Sin exposes to present miseries ; 
escape them now ! Holiness confers present 
joys ; seize them now ! Your Creator com- 
mands ; obey Him now ! A God of Love en- 
treats ; be reconciled now ! The Father, from 
His throne invites ; return now ! The Savior 
from His cross beseeches ; trust Him now ! 
The Holy Spirit is striving in your heart ; yield 
now! "Behold now is the accepted time, be* 
hold now is the day of salvation ! " 

Alas ! what poor, weak words, what cold 
persuasions are these, compared with the im- 
portance of the theme and the value of the 
interests at stake ! A soul in danger of hell, 



A PARTING WORD. 85 

and repentance delayed when delay may be 
destruction, and yet no greater earnestness of 
warning ! O reader ! thou art entreated to 
forgive, not the force but the feebleness of this 
address ! Do not judge of its importance by 
its style. Truly, had the author been able to 
write more earnestly, he would have spared no 
pains to do so. He feels that no words our 
language can supply would be too strong to 
urge thee to repentance now ! But help must 
be sought from Him who alone can effectually 
persuade. Spirit of God ! do thou speak to the 
reader's heart ! Rouse him to reflection. Con- 
vince him of his sin ! Show him his danger ! 
Prompt him, even now, as he reads this last 
page, earnestly and penitently to offer the 
prayer, ^^God be merciful to me a sinner!'^ 
Help him to come to Jesus — to follow Jesus — 
to accept the blood-bought pardon of the gos- 
pel,* and to yield up his heart and life to the 
service of God ! Let him begin at once this 
great work of salvation. And O, forbid that 
this imperfect appeal, intended to benefit him. 



86 A PARTING WORD. 

should, by his neglect of it, become a curse to 
him. Let it not rise up at the last day to con- 
demn him ! But do thou condescend, by even 
so unworthy a messenger, to persuade him to 
repent and believe the gospel — NOW ! 



A PARTING WORD. 87 

NOW! 

Brother ! Sister ! cease to say, — 
*' I'll repent, but not to-day; 
At a more convenient time 
Wisdom's lofty steep I'll climb." 
Thousands thus conviction quell; 
Thousands thus have sunk to hell! 
God remonstrates I promptly bow; 
Wait no longer! seek Him NOW! 

Sinful wanderer! cease to roam; 
Hark! thy Father calls. thee home! 
Jesus waits thy soul to save; 
Novj He bids thee mercy crave. 
Now the Spirit's help is given 
Thee to draw from earth to heaven : 
Wilt thou not, with solemn vow, 
Yield to God, thy Savior, NOW? 

Though repulsed so oft before. 

Still He knocketh at thy door, 

Bearing gifts untold, divine; 

Treasures which mav 7iow be thine : 
. Wilt thou rudely from thee send 
-' Such a generous, patient Friend? 

Still He waiteth — wilt not thou 

Welcome, worship, serve Him NOW? 



88. A PARTING WORD. 

Be thy guilt however great, 
Now be saved — 'tis not too late. 
Yet beware ! for mercy's day 
Soon will all have passed away. 
Time's swift tide is surging o'er 
Life's contracting, sinking shore : 
If thou wouldst escape, allow 
Not a moment's slumber NOW! 

Can the farmer hope to gain 
• Precious crops of golden grain, 
If he idly, day by day. 
All the seed-time dreams, away? 
Rouse thee, soul! redeem the past! 
Harvest-time is coming fast! 
Through the fallow drive the plough — 
Wouldst thou reap? be sowing NOW! 

Canst thou safe in port arrive 
If thy ship at random drive? 
Spread thy sail — fair blows the breeze — 
Now the favoring moment seize ! 
"Wouldst thou hear the word — "Well done"? 
Be the labor now begun ! 
^ Wouldst thou bind around thy brow 

Victory's wreath? take helmet NOW! 

N. H. 



( 



]^S^ We have now in -press^ and will -publish 
at an early day, A Volume of 

SERMONS, 

BY 

Rev. NEWMAN HALL, D. D. 

Of?e volume. i2mo. Price $1.75. 

This book will have an elegant 

STEEL-PLATE LIKENESS OF DR. HALL, 

It will also have an account, prepared by Dr. Hall him- 
self, of his special labors among the poor and lowly of 
his own countrj^, which have been so signally blessed. 

The Sermons in this volume have been all carefully 
revised by Dr. Hall, and will form a collection of some 
of the finest specimens of Pulpit Oratory now extant. 

Sent by mail, postage prepaid, on receipt of the price. 

SHELDON & COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS, 

498 AND 500 Broadway, New York. 



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